Harold Finch
(Presumed dead) | age = | born = | death = | occupation = Software-engineer Billionaire | affiliation = | title = | family = Grace - Fiancée Brothers (Unknown number, presumably older) | residence = New York, NY, USA | portrayer = Michael Emerson | portrayer2 = | first = | last = | flashbacks = }} Harold Finch, also known as Harold Wren, is a billionaire and software-genius who built a machine that predicts future crimes and outputs either the victim's or perpetrator's Social Security number. Biography 1976 Finch's earliest records list him as "Harold Wren." He attended MIT along with classmate Nathan Ingram as top of his class. 1994 Finch founds IFT, along with his friend Ingram. 2001 Following the attack on the World Trade Center, the American government hires "Nathan" to build a machine that would predict future mass attacks on the United States, using coverage of cameras and access to personal information. 2002 On June 10, in an abandoned IFT office floor, Finch is building an early version of the Machine, which consists of government feeds from the NSA, including mail, phone calls and surveillance cameras. This prototype covers only New York, and Finch, along with Ingram, intends on teaching the Machine how to sort the criminals from the civilians. 2006 Finch meets Grace, a magazine illustrator, and the two soon become a couple. At some point before 2009, they get engaged. 2007 At the same abandoned office floor from five years ago, Ingram confronts Finch about the Machine's way of sorting crimes - focusing on the mass-terror threats, while labelling smaller crimes as "irrelevant," and deleting them every night at midnight. Finch claims they built the Machine not to save "someone," but rather "everyone." 2009-2010 Finch is involved in an accident and fakes his death, leaving Grace behind. According to him, he faked his death to protect Grace from the people who know of the Machine. Unbeknownst to her, Finch started watching her from afar and probably arranging work for her to support herself as a freelance artist. According to X-rays analyzed by Megan Tillman, Finch had a spinal fusion surgery as a result of his injury during this time period, possibly due to the accident. Additionally, Ingram passes away due to unknown reasons in 2010. 2011 After faking his death, Finch uses a back-door in the Machine that allows him to access the list of the "irrelevant" crimes, which was installed by Ingram. To avoid attention, Finch can only access the Social Security number of a person involved in the crime, though it is unknown if it is the victim or the perpetrator. February After observing the demise of an unknown number of the "irrelevant" victims, Finch, in a wheelchair, tracks John Reese, a former CIA agent, with ties to one of the "irrelevant" victims. September Finch helps Reese leave police custody in a police station with the help of a lawyer after he (Reese) defends himself in subway brawl. Finch then hires him to spy on every possible victim the Machine supplies, and prevent or save them from the upcoming attack. After Reese discovers Finch's employment at IFT, Finch quits his job without any notice. 2012 May While assisting in the rescue of a person of interest, Finch is captured by Root, who trickedthe Machine into thinking that she was a person of interest, and took Finch to various locations to try and determine the location of the Machine, and how to access it. He is later rescued by Reese, with help from Carter. Notes *On a few occasions, Finch mentions that he previously lost someone, most likely either Nathan, since he was his partner and died, or Grace, since he had to leave her, or possibly both. *When asked why he tries to save people he states, "I have my reasons." Identity *Finch's Social Security number is XXX-XX-5492. *After searching all known databases, the Machine recognizes Finch as UNKNOWN. It makes a note to check additional databases. The Machine later recognizes Finch as SYSADMIN at the end of the episode "Wolf and Cub" when Reese and Fusco are discussing him. The Machine recognizes him as ADMIN when Finch asks "Who am I"?. *It is suggested that Finch was the hacker who exposed the code of the, at the time, military-controlled computer network ARPANET, leading to the eventual creation of the World Wide Web, a feat he accomplished as "...kid with a homemade computer..." . In Wolf and Cub, Detective Fusco mentions that in a background investigation, he found out that 'Harold Wren', the name with which he enrolled in MIT in the '70s, was also a false name. This could mean that for his own safety and avoiding the suspicion of the government, he has been using false identities ever since he exposed ARPANET. Injuries *Judging from the x-ray images Megan Tillman analysed , it appears that Finch has had a cervical spinal fusion of the C3, C4 and C5 vertebrae, more precisely, a 2-level posterolateral fusion. In this type of fusion surgery bone graft is placed between the transverse processes in the back of the spine. To provide stability, the vertebrae are then fixed using metal screws or wires attached to a metal rod on each side of the vertebrae. As a result of this procedure and the preceding accident, Finch displays a range of physical disabilities such as the inability to turn his head, rigid posture, a limp, and severe chronic pain. Despite that, these injuries do not seem to limit Finch's mobility much in any way. He can be seen doing push-ups , climbing stairs and is frequently assisting Reese out in the field. Aliases and other names *As Norman Burdett, he works as a paralegal at Marmostein Ribner. His phone number is listed as (917) 555-0131. *As Harold Wren, he works at Universal Heritage Insurance. The address is 930 W 57th Street, Suite (unknown), New York, NY, 10019. The phone number is (202) 555-0112. *As Harold Crow, he works as a private investigator. His business address is 920 E 68th Street, Suite 500, New York, NY, 10065. The phone number is (212) 555-0179. *His current alias "Harold Finch" has only been mentioned once so far, by Alicia Corwin . He is usually called either "Finch" or "Harold", or uses a different alias. *His aliases are often associated with birds, as shown with Finch, Partridge, Wren, Crane, Crow and Swift, as well as the previously mentioned alias, ''Burd''ett. *Other nicknames include "Mr. Glasses" (Fusco, ), "imaginary friend" (Zoe Morgan, ) "tech support" (Nathan Ingram , Reese ), Mr. Four-eyes and Mr. Vocabulary (Fusco ) Mr.Good News (Fusco's phone) Trivia from the Season 2 set. ]] *While on set, the character is referred to as Harold Finch. *Showed knowledge of ranging and windage when asked by Reese to spot him while he shot the hood off a car. *Collects rare books (first editions),180 gram vinyl records and Xerox Alto computers (when he can get one). *Doesn't drink coffee. He prefers Sencha green tea (with one sugar). *Drives a black Lincoln Town Car with a New York license plate (LXQ-2038). *His phone number or some other form of numeric identification is located in the first 3000 digits of Pi. *Harold demonstrates good knowledge of large multiplication . *Harold either invented, or was instrumental in inventing social networking, to assist the Machine with establishing interpersonal relationships. He notes that it was difficult to link people together until he discovered they were more than willing to provide the information themselves. Finch es:Harold Finch